2017 is almost out the door (maybe it already is in Australia). As we say goodbye, I wanted to come back to our top ten popular posts of 2017. I was surprised at some of those.
Archives for December 2017
How I created Blade Runner inspired image in Photoshop
Recently I was thinking about the year so far and noticed that my output for the year was down compared to other years. Why was this? Maybe I have been too busy with other aspects of the business etc. Sometimes it can be hard to get and shoot when the business issues have to be dealt with. Even so, I still want to keep my Photoshop skills sharp and some kind of regular image rate. So my decision is to start using stock more. I prefer to shoot my own images, but using stock frees me up to create images I may not have been able to if I was shooting everything myself. So for my first stock-based image, I decided to create something inspired by Blade Runner.[Read More…]
Photographer Spotlight: Q&A With Magdalena M – Editorial and Commercial Portraiture Photographer
Next in our ongoing Photographer Spotlight series is Magdalena M.
Magdalena is a Toronto, Canada based editorial and commercial portraiture photographer and art director. Her work has been featured by numerous lifestyle, fashion and design magazines and brands.
She is also the Editor-in-Chief at Avidly Home Magazine.
If $5K+ for an iMac Pro is too much, it’s not for you!
There’ve been one or two comments about the new iMac Pro since we finally got specs and prices a little while ago, so I thought I’d get my two cents in (although the beast itself is a bit more than that!).
I’ve read a lot of positive comments and I’ve also seen a lot of negative comments. Most of the negative comments seem to focus on the price and non-upgradability of the iMac Pro. So let’s talk first about the upgradability.
The only thing that can kind of be upgraded in the iMac Pro is the RAM. I say “kind of” because you can’t do it yourself. The iMac Pro is pretty much a sealed box and only authorised Apple service centre can access it, so less than ideal. In fact let’s just say, you can’t upgrade it. The thing that annoys most people the most about this is that it forces you to decide what specs you want when you order it and if you don’t get what you need, tough.
So you can’t sort of dip your toe into the iMac Pro with a lower spec machine when you order it and then buy higher spec parts for it later as your needs increase. But this is how Macs have been going for almost a decade now. If you’ve been using Macs a while – and odds are you aren’t looking at an iMac Pro if this is going to be your first Mac – you know this is how Apple has been designing their computers for some time.
Take a peek behind the scenes of magical “Frozen” photo shoot for Vanity Fair
Even if you’re too old for cartoons (as if you can ever be), I’m sure you know about Frozen. In February 2018, this Oscar-winning story is getting a Broadway show. Photographer Andrew Eccles photographed the actors for Vanity Fair, and in this video, they let you take a peek behind the scenes of this photo shoot.
3D print your photography to make backlit lithophanes
I have my first 3D printer arriving next month. Ok, technically it’s a robot with a 3D printing head, but this is something I’m absolutely going to have to try. When it comes to regular prints, I just leave it up to my lab. They can produce them far less expensively and far more consistently than I can do at home. But this looks pretty cool. A 3D printed Lithophane.
Essentially, a lithophane a print which uses depth to mark the different brightness levels of your image. When it’s lit from behind, the thinner parts let through more light than the thicker parts. And so, the image comes to life. In this video from Daniel DeArco, we see exactly how it’s done.
How to create frozen ice effects in Photoshop
Christmas may have come and gone, but winter is only just setting in. And with Winter comes the frosty photos and similarly chilled subjects. In this video from Photoshop wizard Nemanja Sekulic, we see a way to give any object a frozen look. Fantastic for those winter themed superhero shots.
A simple technique for faking subtle shallow depth of field in Photoshop
I’m not a massive fan of faking optical characteristics in post. I prefer to shoot it the way I’d like in the first place. But sometimes it’s not always possible. Sometimes you don’t realise until after you’ve got the image up on the computer that something is a little more in focus than you’d have liked.
Shooting in the studio, for example, you’re often around f/8, to allow your subject some freedom of movement. With a solid background it doesn’t matter if it’s not blurred out. But it can often cause shoulders or other body parts to be a little sharper than you’d hoped. In this video, Joe Edelman walks us through a simple technique to help soften those areas in Photoshop and simulate them being out of focus.
Six reasons to get a 135mm f/2 lens
Image quality, weight and value for money. We have come to accept that most lenses are strong in only one or two of these three factors, that I personally focus on when researching lenses to buy. Sometimes though, we stumble upon a great lens design which is strong in all three. One of the prime examples of such a design is the “nifty fifty” – the 50mm f1.8 lens construction that many lens manufacturers provide. Another example is the 100mm (or sometimes 90mm) f2.8 macro lens. If you buy a nifty fifty or a 100mm macro lens you simply cannot go wrong – you will get a great and handy lens for your money, with great image quality.
Apple: “we are sorry for slowing down your phone, we’ll replace your battery for $29”
After infuriating the users all over the world by slowing down their iPhones, Apple is now trying to make up for their mistake. They have issued a letter of apology, saying that there’s been a lot of misunderstanding about the issue. As compensation, they are offering a discount on iPhone battery replacement during the entire 2018.
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